News Release

August 2, 2001

CRTC RENEWS CTV AND GLOBAL’S LICENCES –
MORE QUALITY PROGRAMMING AND SERVICES

OTTAWA-HULL — The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has renewed the licences of all the television stations owned and controlled by CTV Inc. (CTV) and Can West Global Communications (Global) for a full seven year term.

In renewing these licences, for the first time as a group, the CRTC has imposed a number of conditions of licence, including a requirement for both CTV and Global to adhere to a Statement of Principles and Practices regarding cross ownership of television stations and newspapers. These conditions, along with other requirements and expectations will balance the industry need for flexibility and synergies in a global marketplace, with clear benefits for Canadian audiences, the Canadian broadcasting system and the public interest.

In order to meet the aims of the television policy and the Broadcasting Act, as well as enhance services for CTV and Global’s audiences, the CRTC has set out a number of conditions, expectations and requirements. They include the following:

• Priority programming: The CRTC will continue to require CTV and Global by condition of licence, to broadcast during peak hours, eight hours per week of Canadian priority programming. Priority programming includes drama, music, variety, long-form documentaries, regionally-produced and entertainment magazine programs.
  
• Local programming: The Commission has accepted CTV and Global’s commitments for local programming, and encourages both groups to broadcast local programming in the information and entertainment categories.
  
• Regional programming: As set out in the television policy, the Commission believes in the importance of programming that reflects the regions of Canada to the country as a whole. The Commission expects CTV and Global to commission and offer priority programming from all regions of Canada over the new licence term.
  
• Independent production: The Commission expects CTV and Global to ensure that at least 75% of all Canadian priority programming is produced by independent production companies—companies in which the licensee owns or controls, directly or indirectly, less than 30% of the equity.
  
• Services to the visually impaired: Based on customer demand, the Commission expects both CTV and Global to provide the necessary audio description services to the appropriate audiences. As a condition of licence, CTV and Global will be required to broadcast a minimum of 2 hours per week of described video. This level should increase to 4 hours by the end of the licence term.
  
• Closed captioning: As a condition of licence, both CTV and Global must close caption 90 per cent of regular programming and100 per cent of news. These requirements will come into effect at the start of the new licence term for all stations earning over $10 million annually. For stations earning less than $10 million annually, they will take effect on September 1, 2003.
  
• Advertising issues: The CRTC denied a request from Global for the flexibility to average the number of minutes of commercials over a week. This would have had the effect of increasing the number of advertising minutes per hour. The hourly maximum of commercials will remain at 12 minutes.

The Commission acknowledges that some degree of co-operation and sharing between commonly-owned newspapers and TV newsrooms could increase the amount of original journalism available to Canadians and enhance the quality of news coverage.

The Commission must, however, also be concerned about the possible loss of diversity voices and the potential reduction in the number of distinct editorial voices available to the public in the system as a result of cross-media ownership and convergence.

Concerns were also raised by intervenors about the potential loss of diversity of voices in the broadcasting system, given the size of these two players relative to the Canadian broadcasting system.

Therefore, the CRTC is imposing, as a condition of licence, A Statement of Principles and Practices, which includes the following provisions:

• Management of the broadcast newsrooms must be kept separate from the newspaper newsrooms.
  
• An independent neutral monitoring committee will be created to receive and handle complaints pertaining to the Statement. This committee will report annually to Commission on all complaints received and how they were dealt with.
  
• CTV and Global will each spend $1 million per year on promoting the committee and the Statements of Principles and Practices.

The CRTC is prepared to consider suspending the conditions of licence relating to the Statement of Principles and Practices if the licensees and the Canadian Broadcasts Standards Council (CBSC) present the Commission with an acceptable industry-wide code, and while the licensees adhere to such a code as members in good standing of the CBSC.

The television policy established the importance of accurately reflecting cultural and racial minorities in the broadcasting system. The Commission expects on-screen portrayal of all minority groups to be accurate, fair and non-stereotypical.

To this end, the CRTC expects CTV and Global to provide it, within three months of today, a plan outlining how CTV and Global will address these specific concerns. The plan, and annual progress reports, will address a number of initiatives including corporate accountability, programming practices and community involvement as they relate to the goal of ensuring that the diversity of Canadian society is reflected fairly and consistently in CTV’s and Global’s programming.

The CRTC also issued Public Notice CRTC 2001-88 calling for the creation of a community and industry task force to address the reflection of Canada’s cultural diversity in broadcasting. This task force, to be co-ordinated by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, will sponsor research, define issues and identify solutions. The Commission expects both CTV and Global to take part in this initiative and support it financially.

The Commission is confident that these licence renewals will allow both CTV and Global to continue to make valuable contributions to the Canadian broadcasting system and provide a wide range of services to their audiences for another 7 years.

Reference documents:
Information: Statement of Principles and Practices (condensed version)
Public Notice CRTC 2001-88
Decisions CRTC 2001-457, 2001-457-1, 2001-457-2, 2001-457-3, 2001-457-4, 2001-457-5, 2001-457-6, 2001-457-7, 2001-457-8, 2001-457-9, 2001-457-10, 2001-457-11, 2001-457-12, 2001-457-13
Decisions CRTC 2001-458, 2001-458-1, 2001-458-2, 2001-458-3, 2001-458-4, 2001-458-5, 2001-458-6, 2001-458-7, 2001-458-8, 2001-458-9, 2001-458-10, 2001-458-11, 2001-458-12, 2001-458-13, 2001-458-14
Decision CRTC 2001-459
Decision CRTC 2001-460

- 30 -

General Inquiries:
   Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
   Tel: (819) 997-0313, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 994-0218
   Toll-free # 1-877-249-CRTC (2782), eMail: info@crtc.gc.ca 
   TDD - Toll-free # 1-877-909-2782
Media Relations:
   Denis Carmel, Tel: (819) 997-9403, eMail: denis.carmel@crtc.gc.ca 

Copies of today’s documents are available through our Internet site (http://www.crtc.gc.ca) or by contacting the public examination room of any CRTC office. These documents are available in alternative format upon request.

Date Modified: 2001-08-02

Comments about our site

Today's Releases | File, Register and Epass | Decisions, Notices & Orders | Home | CISC | Industries at a Glance | Reference Centre | Canadian Content | Public Proceedings| Statutes & Regulations